Ziggy Stardust
by Marysian
Summary: A non labyrinth related fic :)
1. Default Chapter

Colditz and Ziggy Stardust  
  
By Jenn McNab (Marysian)  
  
29th June 2004  
  
Hello! Just to warn those of you who wanted a Labyrinth fic, this is only partly labyrinth. It is actually a story about a girl and her life in rehab. Arden is a young girl of fourteen who began a tough teenage life when she took the 'wild side' of life and began to take various drugs and hang with the tough ones. When Arden is admitted to rehab, her life seems to go completely downhill, she turns to her one childhood hero, Ziggy Stardust. Follow Arden through her battle against drugs, confusion, love and Colditz.  
  
Let me advise you that this story contains sexual implications and therefore should not be read by those who feel they can't accept the facts of life.   
  
This story is purely fictional and therefore should not be acted in real life =P.  
  
Marysian  
  
Chapter one:  
  
"I picked the way my life turned out and I don't regret that one bit, sure there might have been some ups and downs along the way but didn't your mother ever tell you at some point in your life that you can only truly learn from the mistakes you make? Well its no different here, it just happens that I've had a lot more mistakes. What I learnt in school was that the more you learn the smarter you are. Does that make me more knowledgeable? In some respects yes, it isn't very common for regular children to experience what I have, so therefore they can't truly learn from mistakes they have never actually made am I correct? Now you might be looking at me with disbelief or doubt but I can assure you I am not as stupid as it seems. I will tell you about these so called mistakes that I have learnt from and hopefully you will then understand."  
  
And so the story begins.  
  
A young girl of fourteen stood still on the corner of Mason rd and Termine rd, a cold blue glow to her pale face as the headlamp overhead gleamed dully. She pulled the denim overcoat closer to her body since it was still only half way through winter. Her bottom length crimson hair swayed gently in the breeze as she stood nearly motionless in the shelter and light of the cinema awaiting,…she didn't even know then.   
  
This young girl's name was none other than Arden Mackenzee who had just run out of her small apartment in a fit of rage when she had seen her mother in bed with an unknown man. Her father had left on business to live in America and being the only child, she was quite dependant on her mother for role modelling and things most mothers should do.  
  
This wasn't the only time Arden had run away from home. Various times she had run to the nearby park and waited until dawn before she had returned home but no, this really felt like the final straw. Arden didn't know what she was waiting for but she knew that eventually she'd have to go since the cinema was beginning to close for the night and the only source of light for her then was the occasional light in nearby houses. Arden began to walk along the main road past the milk bar and the butchery and a block of flats until she reached the stairway to the train station.   
  
Arden was hesitant to walk down there since her mother had smacked her once when she was young for walking down there. She could remember it distinctly, she was walking with her mother and father along the road when her father was still around and whilst her parents were preoccupied with a window of one of the various shops, she slipped out of the pram she was 'securely' strapped into and began to walk down these interesting stairs. Of course Arden never knew better, and her mother hitting her for it was never sensible since she never knew in the first place.   
  
Arden nearly had second thoughts about returning home…but then again, her mother was never a good role model to her ever.   
  
She took a few steps down the flight of brick steps that lead to the underground station then eventually reached the bottom where she was greeted by a rather weedy looking man who asked weather or not she had a cigarette. Seeing the frightened look on the girls face, he had left quickly. She had only once been down into the subway but that was during the day time with her mother, but now at night she could see the city for what it really was. There were people, living garbage sleeping on the chairs and in the corners of the station, their filthy hats and Salvation Army coats wrapped tightly around them to keep them warm and protected from the sudden bursts of air the train would deliver.   
  
Arden looked over at a sign to see when the next train to London would be. The time on the sign told her the train would be arriving in twenty minutes.   
  
The man who had asked her for the cigarette was climbing back into a sleeping bag beside another bundle that was a human being.  
  
It had then struck her that these people weren't garbage at all. As she sat down on one of the empty waiting seats, her eyes roaming over the train station, she could see that these people were just people like her. Some would have been forced into this life of poverty, and some would have willingly gone to it. It didn't matter what it looked like to others, these were humans all the same.  
  
There were nearly four sleepers at this station which (to Arden) proved that there would be hundreds maybe thousands of people living in the underground…why, there could be millions of people out there in London alone… and how could she have been so oblivious to all this? Being cramped up in the cage that was her mothers watchful eyes had done this to her. Not only did she want to show her mother what she thought of her, she also wanted to live for herself, even if this meant living like some of the people in this station.   
  
The train could be heard rattling along the rails in the distance and the familiar 'ka klank' that she had been woken up to a lot when she was a baby and lived only a few feet from the station in the top of a bakery.  
  
Arden's mother had her young, eighteen nowadays is extremely young to be having children but in those days fourteen might have been acceptable. 'It must have been difficult' she thought to herself as she climbed aboard the sleek white train. But Arden didn't want her soft side to come out, especially now when she had already come this far.  
  
Arden sat down on one of the seats and fixed her hair that had been tousled by the sudden rush of air the train brought. Her hair was a brilliant red, not dyed but her father was Scottish. Her mother on the other hand was part Asian so it was a rather wild coincidence that she had ended up so pale and with the bright red hair. A rather abnormal occurrence she had always thought. As for her eyes, they were from her mother, a deep brown that was often mistaken for black. Her primary school fellows had teased her about being possessed by the devil. This was obviously not true, however her nasty temper had always complimented.  
  
Her build was not yet completely developed but she was medium. She was always fed well at home when her father was around but she had always managed to make some time for exercise.  
  
Her father was a big, beefy man who always treated her well, he worked as a police officer before he was offered a job in America two years ago to be a cornual of Kentucky so she hadn't heard from him in ages. Her mother was always so choppy! She was very overprotective. When Arden had gotten a job at the milk bar, her mother had found out and dragged her out by her arm, nails dug deep into her wrist. Her mother had forbidden her to get a job because she thought it would cause her to neglect her mother's wishes to go to university.  
  
Once she had hit puberty, her life had begun to twist upside down for her. Everything was emotionally stressful for her and her mother's effect hadn't helped the situation at all. Often Arden was to be seen wandering the streets during the day because she had refused to go to school. Of course her mother had found that out too and she was then frog marched into school by the police. She'd always struggle against the will of her mother until one night where she knew she would just leave and go.   
  
It was that night.   
  
There was nobody else in the train carriage as her so she put her feet up and looked at the sign above her. A map of the underground told her that she was nearing Waterloo station. Another sign told her that she would be fined ?100 if she didn't hold a valid train ticket. Arden's heart froze at that thought of being caught by the police and taken back to her mother's house…she knew it wouldn't be long until her mother would come looking for her.  
  
So she sat tight for a while, slowly slipping in and out of consciousness as the train rattled along. Every so often Arden would wake and peer down at her wrist watch.  
  
1:30am  
  
She yawned and rested her head back against the window and dozed off again.  
  
2:16am  
  
It was beginning to take a while…  
  
2:45am  
  
The train voice had woken her up telling her the train would be arriving london in ten minutes.  
  
Then finally at 2:56am the train arrived at London station. Arden reached into her denim jacket and pulled out a floppy magazine cut out and peered down at the picture.  
  
The text beneath read:   
  
Ziggy Stardust.  
  
Arden folded the piece of paper and placed it back into her pocket as she stepped onto the platform. Like her home station, was home to about sixteen different people. Arden began to walk up the main stairs where she was soon met by a boy around the age of seventeen who was standing at the top of the stairs. He seemed to be waiting for somebody and had a distressed look on his face. Arden reached the top of the stairs and attempted to walk by unnoticed but as he saw her, he quickly rushed over to her and grabbed her wrist. "Where on earth have you been!" he whispered hurriedly, "I've been waiting since two!". Arden had no clue as to who he thought she was but before she could correct him on his mistake, she was being dragged behind a pillar as two young police officers past by.   
  
The boy held his hand over Arden's mouth to keep her quiet as there was nobody else in sight. After the clicking of the men's heels had disappeared he let go. Arden struggled free and ran backwards away from the boy. "What on earth do you think you are doing" she spoke in a stern but afraid voice. "I just saved your ass!" he replied in the tone of relief and disbelief. Arden quickly turned and began to walk swiftly to the entrance of the station when she was once again bared by the boy.  
  
His hair was a sandy brown and only just long enough to be pulled into a half ponytail that poked scruffily out the back. His eyes, unlike hers were a mild green that wasn't too bright but not dark enough to be a brown. His skin complimented his hair and eyes well with a slight hint of tan. He obviously wasn't from an English background but his accent proved that he must have been living there for at least half his life.  
  
The boy grabbed the sleeve of her coat and pulled her again as the voices of the officers began to get closer. He pulled her out into the cool night air and began to run until he had reached a nearby corner. Once they had stopped, the boy began to look around both corners for anybody, not realising that he was still holding onto Ardens arm.  
  
Arden reached down and bit the boy's hand as hard as he could before running down the other side of the station towards the nearest line of shops. Arden didn't see the man behind the wall before she had already fallen to her knees. The shadowy figure grabbed her throat swiftly and shoved a rag into her mouth. Arden's body fell limp as soon as she breathed in and her eyes drooped. Everything went blank.  
  
The boy on the corner watched as the girl was picked up by the man and taken away into the night.  
  
------  
  
Thanks for reading Chapter one! I thought it rolled along pretty well if I do say so myself! However, if you'd like to disagree or correct me, do go ahead and click the review button below! I know this chapter might have been boring but please go on and read the next. I promise you that the next chapter will get the story going!  
  
Just a warning though, the next chapter may be too graphic for immature young people!!! If you think you're up for it, please read on!   
  
Marysian  
  
Completed chapter: 30th June (9:54pm) 


	2. Chapter 2

Colditz and Ziggy Stardust  
  
By Jenn McNab © 2004  
  
June 30th (9:56pm)  
  
(Just as a reminder, this story is set in the 1970's)  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
Arden woke up, the haze in front of her eyes was difficult to see through and it was dark around her. It felt as if she was lying on a steel bench but she couldn't be sure.   
  
Arden lifted herself off the surface she was on and peered around the dark room. Her body felt tender and limp and she clutched her spinning head in a feeble attempt to cease the pain. Whatever the man had put in her mouth was impairing her thoughts. She lifted her body over onto the floor and blindly began to stumble about in the dark to find some way out of this mess. The carpet was sticky on her hands as she crawled across from the smooth cold surface onto the flat but distinctly shagpile carpet. She had nearly no clue as to where she was nor where she was going. She banged her knee sharply on the corner of a couch which made a noise loud enough to bring her kidnapper's attention to the room she was in.  
  
Arden managed to pick up her coat which she found draped over the couch and slowly stumbled through the various bottles and cans to a window. She had just begun to push the window open when a person had entered the room behind her. Arden ducked behind the chair before the person had any time to turn the lights on and rubbed her eyes. Her mind wasn't thinking straight foreword yet so she waited, her breath held tight so as not to make a noise.   
  
The person rustled around for a bit before eventually leaving the room.  
  
Arden let out a sigh of major relief before continuing to open the window. The cool winter air brushed her cheeks and for the first time in nearly twelve hours, she felt clear.   
  
Arden reached out the window and groped for nearby external plumbing but to her bad luck, there was none.   
  
The sun was beginning to rise above the other houses in the area and she could see that it was only half a metres drop onto the neighbour's roof. Arden climbed onto the outside sill and clutched onto the window frame before slowly lowering her legs down one at a time.   
  
The tin roof beneath her made a slight crunching sound under her feet as she walked across to a nearby gutter. She followed the guttering until she found a sturdy pipe in which to climb down.   
  
Once Arden had made it to the ground in mostly one piece (a few scratches and cuts exceptional) she began to run as fast as she could down the street and into the park. The morning mist was thick and bit into her skin like bees but she kept running until she had made it behind a tree. Arden panted hard. She never thought she would make it out of there alive let alone perfectly well.  
  
Or so she thought…  
  
Her body was feeling wrecked but she wasn't sure if she had been beaten or drugged to feel like this. Once she had caught her breath, she started to walk up the hill to the row of shops.   
  
She could recall these lines of shops to be the same place she was kidnapped from only a few hours ago. She could tell it was around six O'clock in the morning with ought checking her watch, as people were beginning to open up the shops and the street dwellers were packing up and leaving for the day.  
  
She had always wondered where the street bums went during the day… Had they gone to work? She had always suspected no since if they had money, they might have a home to live in. Perhaps they just walked around aimlessly until nightfall when they would set up camp again. She never could tell.  
  
Arden once again pulled out the clipping of the singer and looked closely. The article read:  
  
Ziggy stardust, rock legend and alter ego of David Jones who recently changed his name to Bowie so as not to be confused with the Monkees singer Davy Jones will be playing at the following locations this year. The list followed down half the page until she reached London.  
  
He was to be playing in September but she would probably be back at home before she had the chance to even consider going.  
  
Arden liked the sound of this Ziggy Stardust man, she had heard his music once or twice but she had never really considered him to be a great man. They were all the same in the end, tight suits, razzle hair and eye makeup. This appealed to her greatly! She was beginning to wonder if anybody would ever leap out and make a change. Would music be like this forever? Somehow she didn't see this Ziggy character to be the start to a new generation of singers and fashion…  
  
Arden's stomach gave a deep growl and she had only just realised that he hadn't eaten in hours. As she walked along the shops, peering in at all the luxurious foods, she had realised that she hadn't even thought to have brought any money when she had crashed out the front door of her suburban home. And food in the city proved to be more expensive than that of her tiny town.  
  
So what would she do? Arden began to knot her fingers in her hair as she usually did when she was nervous or lost but it was quite obvious what she had to do. She knew she would have to find herself a job.   
  
Arden kept to the left of the footpath as she limped along past the shops. She knew that there would have to be a shop looking for workers somewhere in this huge city. But her search proved unsuccessful as she neared the end of the road, the last shop being a pub.  
  
Arden began to walk down the next road avoiding the beggars who, (if you made any eye contact with) would talk you into handing over any possessions you had on you through eye power and sympathy.   
  
At that moment, Arden heard a scream from about a block away from where she was standing. It sounded as if it were the scream of a young girl. Arden knew not to get messed up in these things, she knew there would be things like this happening in the big city but knew well enough to stay away. Those were the sort of things you'd get raped for trying to investigate…though as usual she had completely ignored her mother's warning and continued down the main road until she met the corner of a main alley. Without looking, she could hear the voices of two male men attempting to conceal the girl. Arden decided not to get involved and waited patiently on the corner until the slamming of a van door could be heard. Arden sat quickly down on the pavement and looked towards the ground in hopes that the van drivers wouldn't stop at the sight of her. She had learnt this trick when she was in school back at her hometown where if she had not done her weekend homework, she'd sit with her face looking down so as not to be noticed by any of the teachers. This worked 60% of the time but there was the occasional teacher who would look out for the ones who would hide away.  
  
The truck backed out of the alley and sped as fast as it could down the main street until it was out of sight. Arden stood a d brushed her coat off and turned to look down the alley way. Sure enough there was a bag at the end of it. The bag seemed to be still but there was a distinct muffled breathing from within.  
  
Arden bent to the bag and began to pull the ropes at the top until they were loose. This took much effort and much nail breakage but eventually she got the bag open. As she had suspected, there was a girl of about eleven, bound and gagged and with nothing but her undergarments to shield her skin from the freezing winter breeze. Arden pulled her blue coat off from around her shoulders and began to untie the ropes that bound the girl into the fetal position.   
  
Once the ropes had been removed, Arden wrapped the coat around the girl and as her mother had once done, cradled the girl in her arms. "So this is what the big city can do to people is it?" she asked the towering buildings above that stood powerful and dominant. Arden was feeling queasy knowing that she was slowly being chewed up by the blunt metal teeth that were the city she was now living in, but she couldn't give up just yet. She had only been gone two days and she had felt that she had had a lifetimes worth of thrashings and horror movies. Arden rocked backwards and forwards, still cradling the girl in her arms, tears rolling down her cheeks. Why was this so hard? Why?  
  
I'm sure we'd all like to know…..  
  
(End of Chapter)  
  
Ohh! Wondering when Ziggy will appear? I am too! Oo; but I promice you all I have so just sit tight and relax! The next chapter should be up tomorrow! What is Arden going to do next? What has this girl got to do with anything? And will Arden discover a solution that will change her lifestyle forever? Keep reading! It will do you no good! =D  
  
Marysian 


End file.
